According to Mark Backler, Creative Director at Fourth State, “Creativity is not a talent - it’s a way of operating.” With the ever increasing level of competition in the games industry, how can you ensure that your game stands out for its innovation and quality? During Mark’s talk at Casual Connect Europe, he took a glimpse at using playtesting to help with ideation, what companies can learn from game jams, drawing inspiration from outside the games industry and the four fundamental secrets to making great games. For more great quotes and insights like this: “Innovation is about as much about re-mixing old ideas into new relevant contexts as it is coming up with never before seen ideas”, tune in below.
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Mark Backler has spent the last ten years in the games industry, working for companies that include EA, Sony, Marmalade and Lionhead Studios on titles such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Milo and Kate, and Fable 2, which won a BAFTA award. Other honors include winning the King, Space Ape and Stugan Trafikverket game jams, as well as being featured in the Develop 30 Under 30.
The Leap into Entrepreneurship
Mark left the job as lead designer at Marmalade after receiving an offer of funding to develop the prototype of The Last Word and shortly after founded the company Fourth State to work on the game, adding the responsibilities of designer, programmer, marketer and business development, and many others. The next step is locating a publisher and further funding to hire people to work on the game.
Working at AAA companies allowed Mark to understand how large teams can collaborate and, at the same time, demonstrated the importance of achieving the highest possible degree of polish while getting the game finished and released. The experience also taught him the value of testing games on a variety of people as early as possible (which, Mark insists, is always earlier than you think), then iterating, and repeating this process until finally you have created something wonderful.
The Rewards of Designing Games
And the reward? “Putting something you made in front of people and seeing it bring them joy and a meaningful experience. And seeing the bits that don’t work so well and then being able to go off and fix them and make it better!” Working on Fable 2 was one of the highlights of Mark’s career, as was it receiving a 9/10 in Edge magazine. Edge has always been one of his favorite games magazines and one he admits is notoriously difficult to please.
Mark loved video games from early childhood and dreamed of making them from primary school age, although the idea of becoming a fireman or a rock star was also enticing. The first attempt, which was, unfortunately, far from successful, was using a Commodore 64 to create his own version of Street Fighter 2 when only seven years old. At that time Mark could never have imagined a future that would include working on Harry Potter or Fable 2. Only after working within the games industry at EA did he discover a love for game design as well as implementation.
Inspiration Everywhere
Fast forward to the present, and inspiration is everywhere – games, books, advertisements, photos, real world locations. When commuting to work, Mark often used to spend time photographing various items and ads that he found intriguing.
Mark begins the creative process by writing down all sorts of ideas, “even the stupid ones, to get them out of your head and as they could trigger a better idea!” Now, many different notebooks bulge with these ideas. Mark describes, “I think there’s something about actually writing something down on paper rather than at a computer that helps you be more creative and think up more, and better, ideas.”
Putting all the Elements into the Game
Technical challenges can be difficult to overcome, especially now that the programming department of a large company is no longer available. But at different events, game developers are often willing to help. Mark admits, “There’s a few bugs and features that have been implemented into the game down the pub over a pint or two!”
But Mark also says, “For me the most rewarding part is putting all these small, different elements into the game and then seeing it all come together to form something that is much more than the sum of its parts, which takes on a life of its own. Then, having people engage with that and (hopefully) enjoy it is pretty special.”
Creative blocks inevitably occur, but when they do, Mark finds it best to take a break, perhaps with a walk or simply thinking about something else for a while. Sleeping on the problem also helps; a solution or a great idea can occur just as you are drifting off. Letting the mind relax, for instance, while in the shower, can allow the subconscious to suddenly come up with an idea. Discussing the problem with others can also help.
One of the most difficult times in Mark’s career came after losing a job and while looking for work for some time. Mark’s way of dealing with the situation was “being very proactive in applying for positions and seeking out opportunities. I spoke to lots of different friends and people I met at events about what I was looking for, which ultimately led to me getting a great position with more responsibility and a higher salary than I had been on, as often happens with people after redundancies.”
An Exciting New Space
Mark believes that VR will be a very exciting space in the future of the games industry and expects to see new gaming experiences and entirely new genres coming out of that space. In fact, Mark would be excited to make the next project a narrative VR game. Mark also sees “the appeal in making an epic scale RPG where you have a long time to build the lore of the world and characters and create a space where players can really lose themselves.”
To those interested in a career in game design, Mark offers this advice: “Start making games now! There is so much great technology out there, like Unity, Unreal, Construct 2, Game Maker, Scratch, Twine and many more that there’s something for everyone no matter what your age or technical inclination. These days there’s also a wealth of freely available resources to help you get started. Figure out which discipline within games you want to get into and start researching the best way to go about that – often a degree is a great start but it isn’t the only way.”
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